Veronica Hughes: How to tile a bathroom floor (it's done!)

Well hello!! We had such a fantastic weekend -- get this...at an event we attended on Saturday we bid on an African safari trip...and won! Holy cats, I am so stinking excited. We have a couple years to use it so it may be awhile. But wow, right?? Truly a trip of a lifetime.

So anyway, I shared the progress on the bathroom tile last week, and if I remember right I mentioned at some point that it had gone pretty easily up till then. I know better. Those words are the the kiss of death.

By the time I was done I was breathing fire...ask my husband. ;) I know the correct way to lay the tile would be to start in the tighter areas -- those on the right of the room. But this was my first time tiling a floor (I've done many other spaces, all on a wall) and I wanted to make sure that the lines you see when you walk in were as straight as possible. Sometimes as you move across a space things can get a little wonky and just in case I wanted those to be the areas behind the pony wall and the area that will be under the vanity.

Also, this tile is HEAVY. It's big and because it is genuine stone it was much heavier than the ceramic or porcelain version I was looking into. My back and arms were killing me after working on this here and there for three days.

So anyway...the first few lines were pretty darn easy. If you are doing a room without notches or toilets then it will be pretty darn easy to put down. Here is how it looked when I last shared the process:

I only had two more rows and some ends to finish up but those took the longest by far.

I didn't take pictures during the process because it was so similar to how I tiled the basement fireplace last year. There are only a few things to consider when you're tiling and I go over them here.

You want to make sure to start with a straight line for your first row of tiles. If you have a chalk reel that is easiest. I didn't have one so I just measured the same distance away from the wall and marked with with my level on the floor. Most recommend finding the middle of your floor and starting there with your tile. But sometimes you'll end up using a lot more tile that way. This room fit five tiles across almost exactly so that was easiest. I had to cut a bit off each tile on the right of the room but all but two of those will be hidden by the vanity. No biggie.
Decide on the pattern for the tile. This article is helpful with visuals to see the differences. I almost did the brick pattern but am so glad I went with the 1/3 instead. It's recommended for larger tiles and I just like the look better.
See this post to see the premixed mortar I used. When I researched tiling with these larger tiles it was recommended to use it on the floor but also back butter the tiles as well, just like I did on the basement fireplace. This uses more mortar obviously, but it felt more secure to me with the longer tiles.
This is the trowel I used -- for larger tiles you want this 1/4 and 3/8 sized trowel:

I used these 1/8 spacers for between the tiles. The grout spacing is up to your preference. I don't love a huge grout line but with these bigger tiles I felt this was the best option.
I picked a sanded warm gray grout and it went much lighter than it looks on the package. I was a little frustrated with how white it looks but I think in the end it's going to look good with the white trim in the room. It looks much brighter from far away and darker close up:

source

There will be a haze on the tile that takes quite a few cleanings to get up -- I still need to wipe it down at least one more time. But I LOVE THIS TILE:

It looks so sharp! I think it was worth breathing fire (not sure my husband would agree) 😂.

This is a slate product and as I've told you before, slate can be hard to work with. It's such a beautiful stone and usually very inexpensive. But there are height differences in the tiles usually and it can flake off a bit if you go with a very natural look.

Every single tile was pretty uniform except for one -- so if you use it I do recommend to check them over quickly before installing. This one is right in front of the toilet and has some variation in the height. You only notice it if you're standing on it in bare feet and even then it's not much:

I ddint' even notice it when I put it down. The variation doesn't bother me -- it's that one part is slightly higher than the others so it messes with the sight line of the grout -- the grout disappears when you look at it from certain angles. Just something to watch out for, but again this was the only one!

Now, the final decision to make on the floor! I have to decide on the sealer and get that down. If I use a matte sealer it will stay looking like it does here. If I use a glossy sealer it will make the tiles darker, bring out more of the different tones and make them shiny:

You can just get the tile wet to see how it will look with a high gloss sealer. :) I thought the wet look would go to dark, or almost black, but I quite like it. The color stays a dark gray. It's just a completely different look so it's a big decision!

This was a HUGE hurdle to get over in this makeover and I'm SO GLAD it's done. Goodness. :) Now I can move onto smaller items -- I was going to do the vanity next but first I need to install the baseboards and wall trim. Next week I'll work on the vanity. Whoot!!

Here's a reminder of how this space looked for ten years until a small painting update I made last year: